I wrote the comments below years ago. I will keep them for a while as a reminder of my newbie thinking at the time. This hobby is a series of plateaus. I have reached a new one with my current gear. Having a lot of fun.
Have made quite a few changes to this system as my fledgling knowlege of audio has begun to mature. I still have a long way to go...in the knowlege department! I probably won't change components for a while. My goal is best possible 2 channel playback with secondary theater application. Have dedicated room 24 x 17 x 11. There are 5 dedicated 20 amp circuits. My recent focus has been on minimizing negative effects from the room. I have recently added ASC tube traps behind the main speakers and in the ceiling behind the listening position. The most interesting thing I did was to cut a 50x12" hole in the double sheetrocked wall behind the main speakers. There is a large floor to ceiling enclosed cavity that I filled with fiberglass. Then we covered the opening with an ASC custom built sound plank with an open back. The other issue I have worked on feverishly is speaker placement. Getting that right really improved clarity. timbre, and air. Before there was a bit of "congestion" in the sound. Finally, the bass trapping did more for the quality of the bass than I would have expected. Now I have zero bass boom; very tuneful low frequency. Nothing is perfect, but I (with the help of many others!!), have really achieved an outstanding quality of 2 channel music reproduction. Maybe now it's time to focus on the theatre side for a while.
Replaced 1012 DAC/pre. Similar neutral sound with significantly more detail yet musical.
Goodwins Silent Server Server
Custom server for High Rez downloads. Connected to an 8Tb NAS drive
Wilson Audio watch
center channel
JL Audio Fathom F113
Pair of stereo subs. excellent quality. Integrates well with the Wilsons
Theta Digital Casablanca 3
with extreme DAC'c
Oppo BDP-95
DVD/Blu-Ray
Balanced Audio VK 250SE Mono
Center channel amplifier. Replaces BAT VK 110 mono. Sounds great and not nearly as hot.
Balanced Audio vk-220
SOLID STATE for surrounds (pair)
B&W SCM-8
side and rear channels
Transparent Audio Opus MM2 Speaker cable
12 ft pair. Great synergy with my equipment
Transparent Audio Opus MM2 Interconnect
2 ft pair from preamplifier to amplifier.
Nordost Odin
analog interconnect from Vivaldi DAC to preamp
MIT MA-X Digital Proline
3 Digital cables, Vivaldi Transport to Upsampler and Upsampler to DAC
Tara Labs Zero digital
Stereo Pair from Vivaldi Transport to Vivaldi DAC for SACD. Clearly one of the best digital cables made
Tara Labs The One XL Cobalt Power Cable
On pre-amp, and all Vivaldi components
Tara Labs 0.8
balanced 50 ft interconnect run to right and left channel preamp from Theta casablanca
Kimber Hero interconnect and speaker cable
balanced from processor to center channel amp and from amp to center
Running Springs Jaco
power conditioner on theater front end
Sound Application RLS-1
Very transparent. I used this in the past with my Maxx 2's than changed for the Audience AR6T. The Sound app is better on the alexandrias.
Sound Application Brass Alloy Power Outlets
Highly conductive modified Hubbell outlets. Remarkably better that the PS Audio. Used on 2 channel front end and amps.
PS Audio Power Port
Modified Hubbell power outlets used in 2 dedicated circuits on theater front end.
Pagoda Finite Element Master Reference
Rack for Pre amp and transport. Also master reference amplifier stand for Boulder 2060.
ASC Tube traps
This photo shows 16" full rounds behind Maxx's. Recently added a second pair of 16" super traps behind speakers. Unbelievable improvement in imaging. Can't understate the difference this made. The panel on the rear wall covers a 12" by 50" hole cut into the sheetrock which allows low frequency to pass into a floor to ceiling enclosed cavity which is filled with fiberglass. Homemade (sort of) bass trap. There are also 3 16" half rounds on the ceiling behind the listening position.
Sony SXRD
1080p projector
Room Acoustics Custom
Custom designed combination of diffusors and absorption covered in fabric on walls and ceiling.
I'll find out if those tubes are necessary in about a week. Had some good listening time last night and it was sublime:-). Gotta love those times when everything is just "right". Also, it never ceases to amaze me how every little thing matters. When I got the second equipment rack and placed it next to the other in the center of the room, it really threw things off. I subsequently moved them as far back as possible and it got a little better. It wasn't until I moved one of the tube traps about 6 inches that things returned to how they were. I am giving the abbreviated version of what I actually did. It took about 2 weeks to figure that all out! I would imagine that the uninitiated would read that and think it absurd. Clearly room acoustic issues are huge.
Bflowers: I am so jeolous :). 2 weeks ago I upgraded from maxx 2's to maxx 3's. I know you're in for a bigger change! If my experience is any leading indicator, it's a dramatic improvement in every single way...congratulations.
Your Maxx ll's will sound like book ends compared to the X-2 series ll. Now if you only get rid of the SS and put tubes in you won't need anything further
System edited: Got the upgrade bug a few months ago and decided to try some new equipment. FOUR months later I achieved the improvement I was looking for! Too much information to go through in detail, but I will try to summarize how I got where I am now and lessons learned. I assumed (more or less) that plugging in higher level components of the same brand I was already using would yield a similar, yet better, sound. Not so fast! At first it was better, but not worth the cost of the upgrade. The Boulder DAC and PRE exposed my transport as not being up to the task. Changing to the 1621A made a huge difference in the quality of the sound. Throughout I noticed these components were highly sensitive to power cables and interconnects. I could almost make the system sound however I liked by just swapping in and out different types of cables. I could get things to be very good, but not satisfactory until I added 2 more ASC tube traps behind the main speakers. I already had one trap behind each speaker, but the second pair made the speakers finally totally disappear. I was almost there. On a lark I tried 2 new power conditioners, The Running Springs Dmitri and the Adept Response AR6-T. Both were great, but the adept response was the best match for my system. The sound application was an amazing addition to my system when I got it, but not the best with the different components. Now I'm thrilled with the sound. It's has detail like crazy but is musical and realistic. Nothing is perfect, but now I just listen for hours to familiar discs and just let them play all the way through enjoying the music.
System edited: After hearing repeated emphasis on the importance of "the room", I decided to try to optimize my listening environment. I met with an acoustic consultant, and we spent several months reviewing plans, taking measurements, etc. Previously my room was designed with home theater in mind. At the time I had no knowlege of room acoustics as it related to audio. Thus I had the standard padded fabric walls. The room was on the "dead" side of the spectrum. I ultimately had the acoustic treatments installed a few months ago. We basically took all of the fabric off of the side walls and removed the padding. Then we placed a custom designed series of absorption up front and diffusors toward the rear. Then we recovered the treatments with the same type of fabric on a fabric track system. Thus the pictures of the room look no different from before. We added fabric covered diffusors on the ceiling at the first reflection point and at the rear wall. The result is a room that sounds more even/neutral than before. I would still say that it leans more to the damped side because of the quantity of fabric (which is fairly reflective), carpet, and types of furnishings. However, it is unlikely that I will change anything at this point. I have made quite a few equipment changes lately that I will post later.
The 0.8 is flexible. I have the digital and the interconnect. The digital is more flexible than the analog interconnect. I have some extra Tara cable if you are loking for some.
Chris, I can't say that I have tried as many cables (or anything else) as most of you guys have, but the addition of the Zero interconnect was pretty impressive.
Hey Brian, looks like the system is coming around nicely.
I must make a sad admission, everybody I know including me trie that tries Tara cables seems to like them so much they upgrade.... Tara sucks for that!:)
System edited: Had to rearrange the components to use the very short Tara interconnects. I would have saved a lot of money had I thought of this configuration in the first place! Live and learn.
Thanks for your comments. I have learned quite a bit since we first met. Sometimes I wonder why you didn't talk me out of this pursuit:-). I do get a great deal of pleasure when I get the chance to do some late night long duration listening. I think you are correct about the speaker position. I imagine that they need to be toed out a hare and perhaps moved ever so slightly forward. I will wait for my final room treatments before I have this done professionally. My wife quit volunteering to help me move the speakers a long time ago. I imagine you and Marty had a great time listening to some excellent systems here in Dallas. Next time I may join you on your tour of the town.
BTW, I was reading your post from 8/30/07 and my advice is NEVER plug your amp into a power conditioner but ALWAYS into a Dedicated AC wall plug. Trust me on this one
It was a treat to have rekindled our friendship this weekend when I visited Dallas. Thank you for taking the time to allow Marty and I to enjoy your ever evolving system. You continue to give great thought in the growth of your components. I found the room not only attractive but very pleasing to my ears. You had thought of modifying the room treatments and for my ears things sounded great.It was only a few years ago that you and I met at CES where you were pursuing your quest to build a system. You have done extremely well. Having owned the entire Wilson line over the last twelve yers I am more than familiar with the Wilson sound. Please give some thought to my suggestion of ever so slight toeing out of both your speakers as I would bet that this will open up your sound stage immensely
System edited: Inserted the Tara Labs The Zero interconnects between the pre-amp and amplifier. WOW these are as good as described. Bass is remarkably tighter and all instruments have a greater sense of "realism" compared to an already excellent sound. I have only had them for a few days but they will likely remain in place for the forseeable future. I have been working with an acoustical consultant to (hopefully) finally optimize the room. These changes will be forthcoming. I am very excited about the direction things are going. I can finally move this to the "all out assault" category with no remorse:-)
Bflowers, Tboooe, is for sure correct. I had the very same same problems with my Pass 350.5s when plugged into the Running Springs Dukes power conditioners. I have now moved the Dukes to feed my front end components, 1 pcs just for my BAT 51SE pre and the other for my CD Player. The effect that I like about the Dukes in the front end is that the lower bass notes have gained clarity and volume. My amps work much better with the upgraded PC only and without the Dukes.
Bflowers, I noticed the same thing with my Pass amps. I have tried a bunch of different things like power cords, AC filter, AC regen but I still find they sound best plugged right into the wall. I sure this has something to do with the massive power supplies in these high end amps.
System edited: Recently I have been having an issue with sibilance and "thinness" on recordings that were not of the highest quality. This occurred only after I added the room treatments. I have been very perplexed by this and have been tinkering around with things to try to find a solution. A few days ago I decided to unplug the Boulder 2060 from the power conditioner and plug it directly into the wall (dedicated 20A circuit). Problem solved! A roundness returned to vocals and instruments, especially cymbals that had been a little "tizzy", now sound natural. What is somewhat surprising about this is that when I first plugged the amp into the power conditioner (prior to the room treatments) I noticed ZERO effect! Maybe the noisefloor lowered a bit, but otherwise nada! I have had bad experiences with power conditioners on power amps before, so I was reticent to put it on there in the first place. I listened very carefully for deliterious effects initially and there were none discernable. Go figure.
